Here is my attempt at clearing things up a little. I promise Waka will be in the next chapter (and before you ask, NO I am not going to kill off Waka too. Hasn't Iris been through enough for one day? He'll be back next chapter, along with Ammy and Issun. In the meantime... I'm not sure what to call this, but here you go. Enjy! ...Or cry, either one is fine.
Chapter 33: Reflecting in an Instant
In the end, it all really did make sense to him as the world was enveloped in golden light. It really did… his memories, the chanting and wishes, the dagger… a tremendous amount of sense.
He'd felt… drained, when Iris had taken the dagger and put it in her bag. Just being near the thing left him too weak to do anything but sleep through the weeks she had spent sick – it was only when she'd pulled him out, called his name, that Tobi had felt himself return. And he understood why – the dagger had recognized him, or what he truly was, and had been trying to reach in and pull away the deceit – his being, his personality.
…No, it wasn't that. It was just the darkness the dagger was destroying. He – the being, the mind inside – had always been a faint part of the ribbon, simply an awareness, just because it needed one. The darkness – when the demons had snatched him from the temple, and their taint had stretched him thin and white and turned his rich ink the color of blood – it had simply reset that awareness and put it at the front, a face to distract the suspicion from the living piece of ribbon. A clever, clever ruse – he'd been completely fooled by his own eye to see what could have been behind it, content to be Gatekeeper, first at Oni Island, then for Hitofuki…
And then Iris, the new Ayame – the true Ayame in his eye – had shown up, and reminded him who he was. It hadn't been all at once, but piece by piece – the biggest being what made her the true hero, that she'd spared his life, and unwittingly given him that one little piece he'd needed to remember. She'd given him hope: hope for humanity as a race, hope for a better future, hope for a purpose besides scolding imps and wondering when something would change, hope for an idea of something better.
And I will be better, Tobi thought as he felt himself unravel and fade. I will be. If it means I have to be her silent protector, just a shadow of what I was… I will be a guiding shadow, to point her in the right direction, even when the light is gone. The golden light was spreading now, as Iris lifted what remained of him, pleading. For her… I'll be the answer to her prayer, in any way I can be… because she reminded me…
"…thank you…" he whispered, and the golden light blocked Iris out, and swallowed everything up, even Tobi's being. He felt nothing but peace, peace and serenity, marred only by the tears shed by Iris as she clung to the brilliant husk that was his body – the one he no longer controlled.
But he would stay with her, Tobi was determined. He would always stay.